Endocrine Abstracts

The hypothalamo-pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis serves to maintain appropriate systemic levels of thyroid hormone (TH) through a negative feedback pathway via the hypothalamic arcuate and paraventricular nuclei. However, the effects of TH in other hypothalamic regions are poorly understood. Triiodothyronine (T3) administration to the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) induces a potent hyperphagic response, although it is unclear whether this is part of a nove...

As the nation gets fatter, the incidence of diabetes is also rising. The brain is now emerging as a critical mediator of blood sugar control, re-directing focus away from the traditional pancreas-centred model. The enzyme glucokinase (GK) acts as a glucose sensor in many tissues including glucose-sensitive neurones within the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. However, the role of GK here is unclear. We investigated the role of arcuate GK in glucose homeostasis in both healthy and ...